1. Chemical castration law could be limited.

• In about a month, a new law requiring chemical castration of some sex offenders will go into effect.
• Sponsored by Rep. Steve Hurst, the bill got a lot of attention during and after the legislative session due to its controversial subject matter.
• As it turns out, this new law will have a limited impact, mostly because of how Alabama law already deals with sex offenders on parole.
• The new law requires a convicted child sex offender whose victim was younger than 13 to start the chemical castration process before they are allowed to be paroled.
• However, current law already prevents parole for offenders convicted of a Class A or Class B felony sex offense against a child under the age of 12. That means it would only apply to Class C sex offenders who want to be paroled. Convicts could also avoid the shots by simply serving out their prison sentence.
• ADN’s Caroline Beck spoke to Hurst, Senate Judiciary Chairman Cam Ward, the Governor’s office and others about the situation, what individuals it applies to, and what might happen next.
• Read her full story HERE.

 

2. Feds resume death penalty.

• The Justice Department said Thursday the federal government will resume executing death-row inmates for the first time since 2003, ending an informal moratorium on capital punishment.
• Attorney General William Barr instructed the Bureau of Prisons to schedule executions starting in December for five men, all accused of murdering children. Although the death penalty remains legal in 30 states, executions on the federal level are rare.
• “The Justice Department upholds the rule of law — and we owe it to the victims and their families to carry forward the sentence imposed by our justice system,” Barr said.
• The move is likely to stir up fresh interest in an issue that has largely lain dormant in recent years, adding a new front to the culture battles that President Donald Trump already is waging on matters such as abortion and immigration in the lead-up to the 2020 elections.
• Most Democrats oppose capital punishment. Vice President Joe Biden this week shifted to call for the elimination of the federal death penalty after years of supporting it.
• By contrast, Trump has spoken often about capital punishment and his belief that executions serve as both an effective deterrent and appropriate punishment for some crimes, including mass shootings and the killings of police officers.
• “I think they should very much bring the death penalty into vogue,” Trump said last year after 11 people were gunned down in a Pittsburgh synagogue.
• The first individuals scheduled to be executed are: Danny Lee, a white supremacist who was convicted of killing a family of three, including an 8-year-old; Lezmond Mitchell, who beheaded a 63-year-old woman and her 9-year-old granddaughter; Wesley Ira Purkey, who raped and murdered a 16-year-old girl and killed an 80-year-old woman; Alfred Bourgeois, who tortured, molested and then beat his two-and-a-half-year-old daughter to death; and Dustin Lee Honken, who killed five people, including two children.
• Read the full story including more information on those being executed HERE.

 

3. Port ups its chill game.

• A new state-of-the-art refrigerated warehouse is coming to the state docks.
• The Alabama State Port Authority on Thursday celebrated the groundbreaking for MTC Logistics and its 12 million cubic foot, $61 million “international temperature-controlled distribution center.”
• The facility will open Alabama’s port up to more products and bring back lost business by expanding blast freezing and refrigerated storage capabilities.
• That’s good news for Alabama’s poultry and seafood industries that currently send a lot of product through New Orleans, Savannah or Charleston.
• Read more from Lily Jackson HERE.

 

4. Abortion case tests unborn rights.

 

• In a case that spotlights Alabama’s state policy recognizing the rights of unborn children, a judge is deciding whether to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the father of an aborted embryo against the clinic where his ex-girlfriend obtained an abortion.
• Madison County District Judge Chris Comer heard arguments in the case this week but did not rule.
• A probate judge earlier this year took the unusual step of opening an estate for the aborted embryo, known as “Baby Roe” in court filings, after the plaintiff’s attorney cited a newly-approved Alabama constitutional amendment saying its state policy to recognize the “rights of unborn children.”
• A lawyer for the clinic that performed the abortion told the judge that there is no wrongful death because abortion is legal. The clinic has asked the judge to dismiss the case.
• Plaintiff Ryan Magers and his then-girlfriend were both teenagers when she got pregnant in 2017. The suit says Magers pleaded with the young woman not to have an abortion but she did so anyway. The suit names the clinic where Magers contends his former girlfriend received an abortion-inducting medication when she was six weeks pregnant.
• Magers’ attorney, Brent Helms, said, “there’s never been a case like this in the United States of America.”
• Read more HERE.

 

5. Parker Snider: Don’t Discount the Census.

• Lots of folks don’t like answering the door or a phone call just to be asked questions. That’s especially true if the person calling on you is from the federal government.
• But even those who favor limited government need to be sure to participate in the upcoming Census, argues Parker Snider of the Alabama Policy Institute in a contributed column today.
• A seat in Congress – probably a conservative one – might hang in the balance.
• Here’s an excerpt:

• Read his full column HERE.

 

Of Note…

• There are some promotions of note from U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby’s office.
• Morgan Ulmer, who has served as Shelby’s Legislative Director for the last year, has been named Clerk of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee. That’s the top staff position for the panel that handles all Ag related spending in the Senate.
• Clay Armentrout, who has worked as both Legislative Assistant and General Counsel, has been named Legislative Director. He will remain Shelby’s Counsel in addition to his role as LD.
• And Michael Ciamarra has been promoted from Legislative Aide to Legislative Assistant in the Shelby office.
• Congrats to all!

 

Headlines.